Skip to main content

Gleanings — §404

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 404 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

قوّه و بنیهٴ ایمان در اقطار عالم ضعیف شده دریاق اعظم لازم سواد نحاس امم را اخذ نموده اکسیر اعظم باید یا حکیم آیا اکلیل غلبه دارای آن قدرت بوده که اجزاء مختلفهٴ در شیء واحد را تبدیل نماید و بمقام ذهب ابریز رساند اگرچه تبدیل آن صعب و مشکل بنظر میآید ولکن تبدیل قوّهٴ ناسوتی بقوّهٴ ملکوتی ممکن نزد این مظلوم آنچه این قوّه را تبدیل نماید اعظم از اکسیر است این مقام و این قدرت مخصوصست به کلمة الله...

Shoghi Effendi Translation

The vitality of men’s belief in God is dying out in every land; nothing short of His wholesome medicine can ever restore it. The corrosion of ungodliness is eating into the vitals of human society; what else but the Elixir of His potent Revelation can cleanse and revive it? Is it within human power, O Ḥakím, to effect in the constituent elements of any of the minute and indivisible particles of matter so complete a transformation as to transmute it into purest gold? Perplexing and difficult as this may appear, the still greater task of converting satanic strength into heavenly power is one that We have been empowered to accomplish. The Force capable of such a transformation transcendeth the potency of the Elixir itself. The Word of God, alone, can claim the distinction of being endowed with the capacity required for so great and far-reaching a change.

Translation Notes

نحاس
nḥás n-ḥ-s

literal: copper; brass/copper; copper (part 1 of نحاسی split)

SE rendered ضعیف (ḍʿíf)دریاق (dríáq)اعظم (iʿẓm)لازم (lázm)سواد (súád)نحاس (nḥás)امم (imm)اخذ (ikhdh)نموده (nmúdh)اکسیر (iksír)اعظم (iʿẓm) as “dying, wholesome medicine, potent, can ever restore, corrosion, human society, eating, into, Elixir”

copper 43% dross 14% copper?” 14% brass-like 14% crude 14%
اکسیر

literal: elixir

2 occurrences in corpus

اکلیل
iklíl k-l-l

literal: all; every; all/whole

SE rendered اکسیر (iksír)اعظم (iʿẓm)باید (báyd)حکیم (ḥkím)آیا (áyá)اکلیل (iklíl)غلبه (ghlbh)دارای (dáráy)قدرت (qdrt) as “Elixir, potent, can cleanse, Ḥakím, Is it within, ungodliness, human power”

all 74% every 9% whole 3% everyone 3% each 2% entire 2% utterly 2% such 1% precious 1% one 1%
غلبه
ghlbh gh-l-b

literal: dominance; overcome

SE rendered اعظم (iʿẓm)باید (báyd)حکیم (ḥkím)آیا (áyá)اکلیل (iklíl)غلبه (ghlbh)دارای (dáráy)قدرت (qdrt)اجزاء (ijzáʾ) as “potent, can cleanse, Ḥakím, Is it within, ungodliness, human power, constituent elements”

اجزاء

literal: part, portion; parts; part

4 occurrences in corpus

مختلفهٴ
mkhtlfhٴ kh-l-f

literal: different; behind; difference

SE rendered دارای (dáráy)قدرت (qdrt)اجزاء (ijzáʾ)مختلفهٴ (mkhtlfhٴ)شیء (shíʾ)واحد (wáḥd)تبدیل (tbdíl)نماید (nmáyd) as “ungodliness, human power, constituent elements, matter, any, transformation, to transmute”

رساند
rsánd r-s-n

literal: cause-to-reach

SE rendered تبدیل (tbdíl)نماید (nmáyd)بمقام (bmqám)ذهب (dhhb)ابریز (ibríz)رساند (rsánd)اگرچه (igrchh)تبدیل (tbdíl)صعب (ṣʿb)مشکل (mshkl) as “change, to transmute, into, purest gold, Revelation, as, greater, difficult”

attain 29% causing 14% led 14% make 14% leadeth 14% contracted 14%
ولکن
wlkn l-k-n “but”

literal: but, however; but/however

SE rendered تبدیل (tbdíl)صعب (ṣʿb)مشکل (mshkl)بنظر (bnẓr)میآید (míáyd)ولکن (wlkn)تبدیل (tbdíl)قوّهٴ (qúqhٴ)ناسوتی (násútí)بقوّهٴ (bqúqhٴ) as “converting, greater, difficult, may appear, but, strength, satanic, power”

however 67% when 11% pursuance 11% yet 11%
نزد
nzd n-z-d

literal: near; near, with; near/with

SE rendered قوّهٴ (qúqhٴ)ناسوتی (násútí)بقوّهٴ (bqúqhٴ)ملکوتی (mlkútí)ممکن (mmkn)نزد (nzd)مظلوم (mẓlúm)آنچه (ánchh)قوّه (qúqh) as “strength, satanic, power, heavenly, one, Force”

unto 23% sight 15% have 8% estimation 8% whenever 8% visited 8% all 8% eyes 8% came 8% compared 8%
مظلوم
mẓlúm ẓ-l-m

literal: wronged

SE rendered بقوّهٴ (bqúqhٴ)ملکوتی (mlkútí)ممکن (mmkn)نزد (nzd)مظلوم (mẓlúm)آنچه (ánchh)قوّه (qúqh)تبدیل (tbdíl)نماید (nmáyd) as “power, heavenly, one, Force, transformation, capable”

آنچه
ánchh ʾ-n “this”

literal: that; indeed; that, to

SE rendered ملکوتی (mlkútí)ممکن (mmkn)نزد (nzd)مظلوم (mẓlúm)آنچه (ánchh)قوّه (qúqh)تبدیل (tbdíl)نماید (nmáyd)اعظم (iʿẓm) as “heavenly, one, Force, transformation, capable, transcendeth”

have 10% behold 10% will 10% such 10% either 10% \‘verily 10% verily 10% truth 10% \‘they 10% although 10%

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

Epistle to the Son of the Wolf cover

Epistle to the Son of the Wolf

Bahá’u’lláh

The last outstanding Tablet revealed by Bahá’u’lláh, written around 1891 and addressed to Shaykh Muḥammad-Taqí of Iṣfahán. It calls upon that rapacious priest to repent, quotes the most celebrated passages from Bahá’u’lláh’s own writings, and adduces proofs establishing the validity of His Cause.

268 ¶

Fire Tablet cover

Fire Tablet

Bahá’u’lláh

Revealed in late 1871 during a period of severe hardship in ‘Akká, this Tablet takes the form of an anguished dialogue between Bahá’u’lláh and God. Questions about the sufferings of the faithful are answered with divine assurances, building to a crescendo of triumph over tribulation.

50 ¶

Kitáb-i-'Ahd cover

Kitáb-i-’Ahd

Bahá’u’lláh

The Book of the Covenant — Bahá’u’lláh’s Will and Testament, written entirely in His own hand and unsealed on the ninth day after His ascension. It designates ‘Abdu’l-Bahá as His successor and establishes what Shoghi Effendi called the mightiest Covenant in all religious history.

16 ¶

Kitáb-i-Íqán cover

Kitáb-i-Íqán

Bahá’u’lláh

The principal doctrinal work of the Faith, revealed in Baghdad within the space of two days and two nights in response to questions from the Báb’s maternal uncle. Shoghi Effendi described it as occupying a position unequalled by any work except the Kitáb-i-Aqdas — a model of Persian prose, at once original, chaste, vigorous, and remarkably lucid.

291 ¶

Prayers and Meditations cover

Prayers and Meditations

Bahá’u’lláh

Published in 1938, this companion volume to Gleanings contains 184 prayers and meditations selected by Shoghi Effendi from Bahá’u’lláh’s devotional writings revealed across successive exiles from Baghdad to ‘Akká. Shoghi Effendi described it as a volume whose perusal would deepen the spirit of devotion and faith.

858 ¶

Tablet of Aḥmad cover

Tablet of Aḥmad

Bahá’u’lláh

Revealed in Adrianople and addressed to a believer named Aḥmad, this Tablet has been invested by Bahá’u’lláh with a special potency and significance. Its central imagery draws on the metaphor of fire and water: “Be thou as a flame of fire to My enemies and a river of life eternal to My loved ones.”

17 ¶

Tablet of Carmel cover

Tablet of Carmel

Bahá’u’lláh

Revealed during a visit to Mount Carmel, this Tablet addresses the mountain directly and prophesies its future as the world spiritual and administrative center of the Faith. Shoghi Effendi designated it one of three foundational Charters. Its imagery of the Ark and the dwellers therein prefigures the Universal House of Justice.

5 ¶

Tablet of the Holy Mariner cover

Tablet of the Holy Mariner

Bahá’u’lláh

Chanted aloud in the outskirts of Baghdad just weeks before the Declaration in the Garden of Riḍván, its gloomy prognostications aroused the grave apprehensions of all who heard it. Only the Arabic portion has an authorized translation; the Persian portion remains untranslated.

57 ¶

The Hidden Words cover

The Hidden Words

Bahá’u’lláh

Seventy-one Arabic and eighty-two Persian aphorisms revealed around 1858 while walking along the banks of the Tigris in Baghdad. Originally designated the “Hidden Book of Fáṭimih,” Shoghi Effendi described it as a marvelous collection of gem-like utterances occupying a position of unsurpassed preeminence among the ethical writings of the Faith.

160 ¶

Will and Testament cover

Will and Testament

‘Abdu’l-Bahá

Written by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in three parts between 1901 and 1908, opened and read after His passing on 28 November 1921. Shoghi Effendi designated it the Charter of the New World Order — the mightiest instrument forged to ensure the continuity of the three ages of the Bahá’í Dispensation.

59 ¶